A Happy Christmas After All
by Graceful Bard
Summary: Teddy's first Christmas is happier than Andromeda expected.


Andromeda was not anticipating a happy Christmas. The past seven months – hell, the past year – had been exhausting. On the nights when Teddy didn't wake her teething, she woke herself with nightmares of Dora's body or the last conversation she had had with Ted. She had been relieved when Harry had taken it upon himself to organise Christmas and explained that none of them – himself, the Weasley family, or Hermione Granger – wanted a big celebration. It would be quiet, he promised, just a simple afternoon dinner at the Burrow and exchange of gifts. Everyone was too tired, too sore with grief for anything else.

Harry had been such a huge help this year; Andromeda wouldn't have expected it of the seventeen-year-old who had landed in her back garden last July. He had spent the summer recuperating, mentally and emotionally, from his year on the run, but he had always expressed an interest in herself and Teddy. He had confessed to her not long after the Battle that he wanted to be a good godfather to her grandson, the way he wished Sirius could have been to him. And so Harry learned to change nappies and feed and burp Teddy; he also set up camp in Andromeda's house for a week when Teddy had the croup so Andromeda could get some rest. She wasn't old, but she knew she was no spring chicken, and taking care of an infant was, at times, overwhelming. With Harry, even though he had entered training as an Auror in September, she knew she never had to deal with it alone. He had also tacitly made it clear that while he wanted to be a strong presence in Teddy's life, he considered Andromeda Teddy's primary caregiver and himself a favoured uncle, something for which Andromeda would be eternally grateful.

If she didn't have Teddy, she wasn't sure she'd have much to live for.

So it was a quiet, understated Christmas this year. Andromeda hadn't had the heart to hang a single small, lonely stocking from the mantle, so she had stuck it at the foot of Teddy's cot. Harry had strung up fairy lights in Teddy's room, but the rest of the house was undecorated. It wasn't as if Teddy would know, Andromeda told herself.

She, Teddy, and Harry had had a nice supper on Christmas Eve, after which Harry left for the Burrow and Andromeda put Teddy to bed. The plan was to have a lie-in on Christmas morning, then gather at the Burrow for dinner and presents. Harry had explained that since there were so many of them, the Weasleys really weren't expecting her to give gifts, but Andromeda had bought a nice set of teas for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. They were her own concoction, black tea infused with an extremely mild, diluted version of Dreamless Sleep. For Harry, she had found Dora's Auror's Handbook, which her daughter had annotated with snarky comments.

She was just buttoning Teddy's romper after changing his nappy when the Floo chimed.

"Aunt Andromeda?"

Andromeda picked up a squirming Teddy and hurried into the sitting room to see the last person she expected to see at ten in the morning on Christmas Day.

Draco Malfoy's head was hovering in the fireplace.

Andromeda's first thought was that he looked terrible. His eyes were bloodshot with heavy bags, and his hair was a disaster.

"Aunt Andromeda, I'm so sorry to bother you on Christmas Day, but – Mum went out to Azkaban last night to see my father and when she came back she locked herself in her room and she hasn't made a sound, she won't come out, she's warded the door and the windows somehow and I can't get in and I know you've only just begun speaking to each other in the past five months but I don't know what to do and there's no one else to ask – "

He had the sickly, pathetic look of someone who isn't used to having to beg for what he wants and is terrified the answer will be "no."

A year ago, the answer would have been "no." But a year ago, she hadn't spoken to Narcissa in over two decades, Dora had been heaving with morning sickness, and Ted had been kissing her under the mistletoe, and Narcissa's houseguest had been trying to kill her family.

"I'll be through in a minute, just let me grab Teddy's bag."

Relief coloured Draco's face.

"Thank you," he said, and withdrew his head from the fireplace.

Andromeda grabbed Teddy's bag, charmed to be feather-light and already packed for the Burrow, and, holding Teddy, threw a handful of powder into the fireplace, and called, "The Dower Cottage!"

After the war, the Ministry had seized the entire Malfoy estate and assets. The Manor had been thoroughly searched and stripped of any potentially Dark artefacts, while the Malfoy vault had been nearly emptied to pay the penalties imposed upon the family. While Narcissa had been cleared of all charges, Lucius had been sentenced to life imprisonment and Draco was under house arrest for the next two years. Narcissa had moved to the Dower House, on the far edge of the Malfoy estate in Wiltshire, claiming that the Manor wasn't the same without Lucius.

Andromeda thought this was partially true; for all that theirs was a society match, Narcissa and Lucius loved each other deeply. However, Andromeda strongly suspected that the real reason Narcissa moved to the unassuming cottage was that the Manor was too full of horrific memories for Narcissa, who had been a virtual prisoner of the Dark Lord in her own home.

Andromeda stepped out of the Floo and onto a Persian carpet in the Dower Cottage sitting room. Draco was standing next to the settee, bouncing on the balls of his feet with his mouth tightened in anxiety.

"Sit down," said Andromeda brusquely, "You'll need to watch Teddy if I'm to try and break through your mother's wards."

If she hadn't been so concerned for Narcissa, Andromeda would have laughed at the gobsmacked look on Draco's face.

"But – " he tried to protest.

"No buts," said Andromeda, "I can't deal with your mother and Teddy at the same time. I'm not asking you to do anything except watch him for about a half hour. Sit down and hold him close to you chest, with his neck and head resting on your left arm – yes, that's it – and your right arm supporting his bottom and back – good.

"Now, I know you've seen Narcissa and me hold him when I've come over to tea, so just remember to keep his back and neck supported. If you become truly desperate, lay him down on the ground on his back, he's not crawling yet. Got it?"

She didn't wait for an answer. She looked around the room, cast a quick charm that magically blunted any sharp objects and temporarily rendered glass unbreakable, then headed upstairs to Narcissa's room.

She did a double-take when she examined the wards on the bedroom door. They were practically unbreakable – for anyone who hadn't lived with a teenaged Narcissa.

Growing up the spoiled youngest daughter in the Black household, Narcissa had often gone off to her room to sulk and would throw up these wards to keep her parents out until they caved in and gave her whatever she wanted. As she grew older, these sulks could last for days, and if the house elf was forbidden to cater to Narcissa's whims, she would often entreat her older sister to sneak her food and letters. Andromeda hadn't really sympathised with the spoiled Narcissa, but she knew the longer Narcissa spent in her room, the longer her parents would be focused on their youngest daughter, and they wouldn't spend so much time trying to coax Andromeda into making a match with a suitable young (or not-so-young) pureblood.

Narcissa had developed a password that was keyed to Andromeda and Andromeda alone.

Standing in the upstairs hall of the Dower Cottage, Andromeda whispered, not unaware of the irony, "_Semper sorores_."

The door swung open to reveal Narcissa still as a statue, sitting on the end of the bed with her back to the door and gazing blankly at the bay window. It looked as though she hadn't moved since returning home the previous night; she was still wearing her boots and travelling cloak, and she was clutching something on her lap.

Andromeda closed the door, walked across the room, and sank onto the bed next to her sister. Looking down, she could see Narcissa was grasping a dark green silk men's dressing gown.

They sat in silence for several minutes before Narcissa cleared her throat.

"He's dying."

Andromeda did not have to ask who.

Narcissa began to speak, still staring blankly at the bay window onto the bleak Malfoy grounds.

"I went to Azkaban last night. You know I make one visit every month – it's the most they allow – but they made an exception for Christmas. The dementors aren't there anymore – Thank Merlin – but it's still an awful place.

"The guards kept me waiting after I presented my wand for identification, and a mediwizard came out. He explained that he was the healer assigned to the prison, and he needed to speak to me privately. He brought me into his office, and he told me – he told me – " Narcissa gave a small, choking sob – "Lucius has cancer of the magical core. There's no cure. It'll destroy his magic before moving onto the rest of his body. They think he'll live only for another two years, three at most. They said they already informed him, they told him after his last medical evaluation a week ago.

"Lucius and I spoke of the diagnosis – we said a lot of things, really – he told me – he told me how much he loved me, and he was so sorry for everything he had put me through."

Narcissa took a deep, shuddering breath.

"He – he looks as well as he did the last time I was there, but his eyes – his eyes! He never really recovered from his time in Azkaban two years, and then… last year… but even after his trial he was alive! I thought, with the Dark Lord gone, it had ended, that even if we could never live together again, we would still have each other, but this…"

She finally turned to Andromeda. Her beautiful grey eyes were swimming with tears.

"Andromeda," she whispered, "my husband is going to die."

Andromeda could have said so many things – "Now you'll know how I feel," "It's not punishment enough for what he's done," "I suppose he won't be in prison for very long then after all" – but the war was over and saying those things wouldn't bring Ted or Dora back and she was tired, so tired, of all the hate. So instead:

"I'm sorry," she said simply. And it was true; she wasn't sorry for Lucius, but she was sorry that Narcissa had survived the war with her family intact only to lose it during peace.

Narcissa flung herself at her older sister, sobbing into Andromeda's shoulder. Andromeda was reminded of days gone by, of a time, years ago, when she and her little sister had been thick as thieves, confiding to each other all their girlish secrets. Before they grew up. Before Ted. Before Lucius. Before Voldemort.

Andromeda let Narcissa cry until her sobs quieted to trickling tears.

"Narcissa," she said, "You have to tell Draco. Not right this minute, you could even wait 'til tomorrow if you wanted, but you need to tell him."

"I know."

"Let's get you dressed. I left Teddy with Draco in your sitting room, and I think your son is a little frightened of him."

That brought a shadow of a smile to Narcissa's lips as she went into the adjoining bathroom to wash her face.

Andromeda picked up the dressing gown, which had slithered to the floor when Narcissa rose. As she hung it up in the wardrobe, she could detect a ghostly whiff of men's cologne. Turning back, she saw a letter lying on the floor.

It was dated 24 December 1998, and her eyes caught a glimpse of the words _My beloved Narcissa_ before her conscience caught up with her and she folded the letter and placed it on her sister's bedside table.

Narcissa emerged from the bathroom, once again pressed and dressed, and they headed downstairs to find Draco and Teddy asleep on the couch, with Teddy's hair morphed a familiar shade of platinum blonde.

The two sisters woke their respective offspring, and the four of them sat down to a surreal Christmas brunch, carefully avoiding the subject of Narcissa's trip to Azkaban.

Andromeda excused herself and Teddy immediately after the washing up, but before she left, she hugged Narcissa close, and whispered, "If you need me…"

She returned with Teddy (miraculously intact; but then, he had only spent a half hour with his cousin) to her house, any energy she had had when she woke up that morning completely evaporated.

But there was no time for a nap before heading over to the Burrow, so she wrestled Teddy into his Christmas romper and, shrinking her gifts for the Weasleys and Harry and placing them in Teddy's bag, stepped through the Floo once more.

As they stepped into the comforting kitchen of the Burrow, Molly gave Andromeda a hug, Teddy a kiss, and exclaimed over the teas ("Oh, you shouldn't have!") before shooing Andromeda towards the sitting room.

Andromeda was a familiar guest at the Burrow by this point, but everyone still got up to greet her and Teddy, who was cooed over and admired to his heart's content, and they insisted she take the comfortable brown armchair.

The wireless was playing Celestina Warbeck softly in the background. As Teddy was passed around, it was clear that everyone was doting on him to take their minds off of those who would never be with them around the Christmas tree again. Teddy was fascinated by the gifts under the tree, and his hair kept morphing shiny, metallic shades of red, green, gold, and silver.

The gifts began flowing, and Andromeda found herself the recipient of a set of delightful smelling soaps from Molly Weasley, but everyone soon became so absorbed by Teddy's gifts that all others were forgotten.

From Bill and Fleur came a beautiful set of hand-carved wizarding toys from France, and Charlie, the quietest Weasley brother, had given Teddy a stuffed dragon. Percy awkwardly presented Teddy with a colourful set of building blocks.

From George came a toy that looked like a cross between a plush puffskein and an adorable monster. It was neon pink, but flashed different colours and changed faces when you squeezed it and made all sorts of noises when you pulled its feet or tongue.

"I designed it based on our pygmy puffs," George explained, "but Ron helped with the charms as well."

Teddy was entranced. Andromeda could see that children's toys had definitely become more obnoxious since Nymphadora was a toddler, and she made a note to herself to send George and Ron's future children the loudest Muggle toy fire trucks she could find.

Ron took the cake for the most outrageous gift, though. There was a rustling from behind the tree, and a plush kangaroo actually hopped into the middle of the room. Hermione reached over and removed the three books it was carrying in its pouch.

Hermione had bought Teddy what she called "the classics": _Goodnight Moon_, _The Runaway Bunny_, and _The Very Hungry Caterpillar_.

Ron had picked up Teddy and put him in the kangaroo's pouch.

"I found it when Hermione and I were in Australia with her parents," said Ron, "it's charmed for infants, and he can sit in the pouch and the kangaroo will keep its balance even if he lunges for something – I checked with the toymaker, her daughter was 10 months old and she was in the pouch everyday without a problem – and the kangaroo will follow you around, although it's charmed never to leave the room you're in."

George was eying the kangaroo speculatively.

From Harry and his girlfriend Ginny came a lovely Quidditch mobile to hang above Teddy's cot. The whimsically coloured snitch, quaffle, bludgers, and brooms spun around delightfully.

Mrs. Weasley's gift brought tears to Andromeda's eyes. She had popped over to Andromeda's house one day unexpectedly, and Andromeda had been wearing an old sweatshirt of Ted's. Andromeda had been embarrassed and prepared to be defensive, but Mrs. Weasley had thought nothing of it. Andromeda thought the incident must have been forgotten, but by the look of her gift to Teddy, she knew exactly why Andromeda wore Ted's old clothes.

Clearly, she had pressed Harry into helping her, because Harry had helped Andromeda go through Remus and Dora's things, and Mrs. Weasley had taken old jumpers that Andromeda recognised as her daughter's and son-in-law's, and unravelled them and used the yarn to knit a patchwork blanket for their son.

Andromeda felt a lump in her throat, and she stood and gave Molly a hug.

"I thought," Mrs. Weasley whispered in her ear, "that this way, he could still feel their arms around him."

After they had all dried their eyes and pretended not to notice anyone else's tears, they moved into the kitchen for dinner.

Andromeda went to fetch Teddy's bottle, and Harry took her aside.

"Look," he said, "I have something else for Teddy, as well."

He placed a small stone wolf into her hands.

"It's keyed to Teddy, so just set it in his bedroom. It's spelled with the strongest protective wards I could find – Hermione helped me with parts of it, she was the one who kept us hidden last year – plus some spells from the Auror's Handbook."

Andromeda was deeply touched. The Death Eaters had been mostly caught or killed, but after losing Ted, Dora, and Remus, the added security was a blessing.

"Oh!" she said, "The Auror's Handbook reminded me – "

And she withdrew her gift for Harry from Teddy's bag.

His eyes grew wide as he opened the copy of the Auror's Handbook and spotted "Property of Nymphadora Tonks – Keep your hands off!" scrawled across the fly-leaf.

"Andromeda," he protested, "I can't – "

But Andromeda had anticipated this. "Yes, you can," she said. "Dora would've wanted you to have it. Besides, most of the jokes she's written in the margins are things only Aurors would understand, anyhow."

"Thank you," said Harry, his green eyes revealing he was deeply touched.

He reached into his pocket and took out a small envelope.

"I have one more gift," he said, placing the envelope into her hand, "I didn't want to give it to you in front of everyone, but I know Remus was unemployed for years and Dora had to leave the Aurors, so I set up a trust fund for Teddy at Gringotts."

It was Andromeda's turn to protest, but Harry cut her off before she could utter a word.

"I know you don't want charity, but this is for Teddy, and anyway, it's not really charity, Sirius left me the entire Black estate as well as his vault, so think of it as an inheritance, and," his jaw took on a stubborn line, "I'm his godfather and I want to do this from him."

Andromeda really couldn't say no after that.

Later, sitting around the table after the Christmas dinner, Andromeda realised she was happy. Ginny was holding Teddy as his tiny fist clutched at her long red hair, and Harry was gazing at both of them with a look in his eye that Andromeda had occasionally seen in Ted's. She missed Ted and Dora and even Remus with a fierce ache that she wasn't sure would ever go away, but looking around the table, Andromeda felt that it was, in spite of everything, a happy Christmas after all.


End file.
